Saturday we hit the farmers' market in Eastsound, as well as fanning out to check the pulse of the other shopping options in town. The farmers market is pretty small but has
several food options (I had pasta with pesto, Cheryl had fish tacos) and
there are several booths selling vegetables and flowers. Musicians playing, kids running around the grass and people just relaxing and soaking up the sun -- life is pretty good here.
In general, the island really has maintained its local charm, and the various arts and crafts on offer are mostly top-notch -- and very pricey. Some of the gallery prices (Olga Cafe, we're looking at you) are as stratospheric as Carmel or Sausalito, but understandable since the local tourist season is so short. There are no chain stores or restaurants on Orcas -- a refreshing difference from the rest of the world.
Sunday, we undertook the trail from Lake Cascade to the top of Mount Constitution. It turned out to be much more of an ambitious climb than I remembered, and after my repeated assurances that the trail gets easier "real soon", half of our party turned back to get the car and meet Jessica, Gigi and me at the top. The trail *did* get easier literally 3 minutes after we split. I have to hand it to the kids because we were all huffing and puffing and sweating and...well, it was a tough climb.
At the top, the view was glorious as always. There was a volunteer guide who added a lot of good color. He explained that Orcas was the primary supplier of fruit to Washington 100 years ago (before other parts of the state were irrigated.) He said the island was almost entirely stripped of trees for many reasons: boxes and crates for the fruit, fuel for the lime kilns, fuel for shipping, firewood, fences and building for the locals, as well as logging for regular commercial timber. I had always figured it was just the latter reason.
Well, it has been only 24 hours but we have already fit a lot in. After flying into Seattle and taking the ferry boat -- probably the most scenic mass transit in the country -- we dropped off our bags and drove into Eastsound to meet Taylor's friend Fifi at the airport. We had dinner at Chiladas and then dropped $400+ on groceries. Ouch.
Chiladas has changed names since we were here last -- it used to be called Bilbo's. Here's what I would write on Yelp, if I was more motivated: the name hasn't made much difference. It was an uneven meal (my tacos were meh, Jessica didn't like her quesadilla but Cheryl said the chile rellano was the best she'd ever had) and the food took forever to come to the table. We were huddled under blankets at one of the tables outside as the place gradually cleared out. Almost seemed like we were the last served. Maybe that's the treatment off-islanders get? The setting has such great potential, it is a shame it doesn't live up to it.
Back at Westwoods, the evening brought that classic glassy calm over the water that makes it hard to believe this is part of the ocean. I stopped by to say hi to Dawn and Rory -- they seem uber-nice. After unpacking and getting settled, we pretty much all collapsed after a full day of travel. The four girls slept upstairs, with two air mattresses complementing the two regular single beds. It is a little tight but the girls seem to be loving it.
Today we spent the full day doing things on the property. Cheryl went for an early run and had a nice conversation with Chris and his wife next door. After power-sleeping and a good pancake and egg breakfast, the girls took turns going out on the little rowboat (no life jackets -- i winged it as lifeguard) and scouting the nearby woods and coastline. They played multiple card games. We all hoofed it up to the ridge and had a good time enjoying the change in scene. Taylor and Fifi read on the deck for awhile. Jessica, Gigi and I played horseshoes -- nobody got killed but it was a close call. We've recently finished dinner, cleaned up and are ready for a classic sunset at The Point. At one point, Jessica asked Cheryl what we are doing on Sunday and Cheryl said "no plans, yet," and Jessica responded "can we just hang out here?" It was a good day.
